New York Chicken

This dish has lots of names, I've heard it called the Chicken Melt, New York Chicken and Cajun Chicken before, but I don't know why. I have an unhealthy obsession with New York though so I think I'll stick with that name :)
So, what is it? I'm sure you've all had it once in your lifetime at least. It's a great meal, and will really impress your friends since it looks like you've put a lot of effort into it. However, it's actually really simple, and I made it the other night in a bid to woo my boyfriend (way to a man's heart is your cooking, ladies!). Safely say it worked :D
Chicken, with melted cheese and bacon wrapped around it. YUM! It's usually served with barbecue sauce drizzled over, but if you don't like it, Reggae Reggae sauce or even gravy is a good alternative.

Ingredients:
- Boneless chicken breast - these can be misshaped, economy lines from Asda for all I care. Still tastes yummy. Have one piece per person, about the size of your palm.
- Cheese - dependant on your tastebuds, it's up to you how much.
- 2 rashers of bacon per person
- Additionally, add BBQ sauce, gravy, or whatever you have on chicken to take away the dryness :P

Method:
-  Pre-heat your oven to 175'C.
- Wash the chicken under a cold tap, leave on a chopping board whilst you tend to your other ingredients.
- Chop a line of cheese, about 1cm thick and 10cm long. Don't make it longer than the piece of chicken.
- With a sharp knife, slice a line down the middle of the chicken piece, but don't pierce right through. It's more of a slit, really. Insert your stick of cheese into the line.
- Arrange your rashers of bacon so they lie parallel to one another on the chopping board. Place the chicken piece on top of the bacon, and carefully wrap the loose ends around the chicken.
- Using a square of tin foil, wrap the chicken pieces individually in the foil, starting underneath and finishing with the opening at the top of the chicken. This will allow so that when the chicken is almost cooked, you can open up the foil easily and brown it off.
- Repeat these steps for each of the chicken pieces. Once you are ready to bake, pop them on a deep roasting tin. This allows for any run-off of melted cheese to be caught.
- Bake them for around 25-30 minutes, until the chicken is thoroughly cooked (no pink bits!). For the last five minutes, open up the foil casing on each piece and brown off your bacon for crispyness :)

Serve and enjoy with roast potatoes, chips, vegetables, salad - whatever you fancy!
Happy cooking, blogging world! I have an engagement cake to blog about in a few days, watch this space ;)

Kirsten x

Traditional English Sunday Roast

Ahh, I feel so full.

I've just made - for the first time! - a full English Roast Chicken with all the trimmings. I don't understand why people think cooking is so hard, it's easy-peasy to make a roast! I just think people can't be bothered with all the peeling, chopping and roasting. Yeah, to be honest, it does take ages. 2 and 1/2 hours for me. That was for three people. I really don't want to bog you down with a recipe for this one, you all should know how to peel vegetables, chop 'em up and whack 'em in a pan of boiling water until you can slide a knife easily through them. (Well, if you didn't, there you go!) We had a medium-sized chicken for roasting, without giblets, so that was easy. Just pop into a deep dish, brush with vegetable oil for crispyness and cook for about an hour or so on 190C. Now Roasties, on the other hand, a lot of people don't know how to make. I'll let you in on the secret for extra-extra-crispy ones:

You will need roasting potatoes.
As many as you want, depending on how many you are serving.

Wash them. Peel them. Chop them down. Boil them. When you can slide a knife easily through one of the potatoes, they are ready to be baked. If you want them crispy, leave them another five minutes. This allows for the potato to become fluffy and break apart on the edges easily. Drain off your 'taters in a colander. Transfer to a deep oven-proof dish and completely cover in cooking oil. Use a cooking brush to really drench the potatoes. If you want, sprinkle some mixed herbs over them to give them a kick. Pop the dish in the oven. Roast for about 30 minutes or until your preferred crispyness. Done!
And here is what I made earlier:

Roast chicken with herby roast potatoes, carrot and swede mash, green beans and sage and onion stuffing. There was a boat of chicken gravy, too. Dessert comes next :)

Kirsten x